Friday, October 19, 2012

I just opened a box from a supplier and it's filled with..... FEATHERS!!!!!!!!!

(not loose flying around ones... they're all contained and in pretty packages)

I cannot WAIT to play with them. They're part of some mixed media stuff I've been doing for art shows. I'm putting things together for my Chastain Park (Atlanta, GA) show, which is the first weekend in November, BUT as it usually is... whenever I want to play and create, there are other busy-work things that have to be done first.

This week it's making the kits.... LOTS of kits. I'm getting ready for my classes in California next week at Creative Castle I'm teaching 3 classes and one of them is the PREMIERE of a project... my Steel Magnolia bracelet. It's one of the classes I'll be teaching at Bead and Button in June 2013, but THIS is the first time ANYONE will get to make one of these stunning bracelets for themselves.

I've had a lot of fun creating the color palettes for this.... I have to whittle down the choices, which is really hard for me, but I want to offer a mix of neutrals and brights. Right now, the neutrals are winning with FOUR kits (I'm counting the blue as a neutral... even though it's not REALLY... it's just super mellow and not "me"... but the brights are super pretty. SOMETHING has to go.... we'll see what the CA girls have to say. They have great taste!!!

Anyways.... I have this box of BEAUTIFUL feathers and I can't play with them. :(

I'll have to wait till I'm back from CA to delve into the box of pretties!

Happy Weekend!!!!

tiny blah blah blah...

coffee - nope... Dr. Pepper (I'm saving my coffee run for tonight. It seems like a good night to hang out at Starbucks and chat with friends)

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

So... remember the post from the other day???? The one where I convinced myself that it's ok that EVERYONE doesn't like me because MY customers like me?

The one where I said that I thought the colors I used for my Bead and Button class proposals weren't me???

Well, apparently they were SOMEBODY because.....

after 4 tries.....

I'm going to be teaching at Bead and Button!!!!! The 2013 faculty list will have ME on it!

(insert happy dance here)

More info later, but I just had to say that I was wrong. I thought the Bead and Button jury was done... that they had zigged in a non-Sylvie direction, when in fact they Zagged and picked two of my classes!

(and for the record.... I will have kits in the colors in the submitted photographs, but I will ALSO have COLORFUL versions awaiting my colorful customers!)

tiny blah blah blah...

coffee - yes, but I've been bouncing up and down even without caffeine since I got this news.

music - yes! I have the soundtrack from Pitch Perfect on repeat. I love it!

Saturday, October 13, 2012

In two weeks I will be in California!!!!!!! I'm teaching at one of my favorite bead stores, Creative Castle! (shhhh don't tell the other bead stores I said that! I love them too, but Carole was a bead customer long before I ever taught beadwork) Creative Castle is in Newbury Park, CA and is a FABULOUS store with TONS of seed beads and crystals and wonderfully fun staff there to help you get into all sorts of bead-trouble!

I will be teaching 3 classes, October 26th - my Enchanted Blossom earrings which are SO fun to make because they are EASY and colorful. They also can be used as other types of jewelry... as a pendant or as the ends of a lariat... cute cute cute. I know there are still some spots in this class, so RUN don't walk... grab a seat and come play!

I will also be teaching the premiere class of Steel Magnolia, my newest bracelet project. This bracelet is SUCH a show-stopper! (and it's the topic of an uncoming blog post too... so watch for it!)

On Sunday, I'll be teaching my DeLovely Lariat, which has delicate little flowers at the tips of a beautiful twisting rope. Pretty Pretty Pretty.

Contact Creative Castle to see if there are still spaces available! (I know there were definitely some for Friday's earring class!)

tiny blah blah blah....

coffee - yes! wonderful yummy iced coffee from the drive thru starbucks while out doing errands
music - Album 88. Right on the Music, Left on the Dial. I have no idea who we were listening to, but it didn't hurt my ears, so I didn't complain. :)

Monday, October 08, 2012

When I was in college, I worked at a high-end dress store, owned by a tiny little Italian lady who was a cross between Olympia Dukakis's character in Moonstruck and the tiny ghost-communicating lady from Poltergeist with a dose of Sophia Loren and Mr. Magoo thrown in for good measure. The store carried a huge variety of cocktail/formal dresses.... and some of them, made my eyes hurt because they were over-the-top mother-of-the-bride tacky and I was in my early 20s and "way too cool" to sell stuff like that. (where is she going with this you wonder????)

There were times I'd make a comment about a dress just not being something I could sell... it seemed to sit on the rack forever. Mrs. C would remind me, in her thick NY/Miami accent "There's an ass for every dress!!" She recognized that not everyone has the same taste and that is a lesson that I'm having to remind myself a lot lately.

My stuff is bright and colorful and happy and my customers like it that way. My customers aren't everyone's customer.... in fact, they've often commented that there are not enough whimsical choices for them when taking classes.... but honestly, we whimsical sorts are in the minority in bead-world.... not everywhere, but definitely in bead world. The things I make don't appeal to people who need to wear serious jewelry... people who want jewelry that looks like they bought vintage recreations or contemporary elegant pieces. My stuff is fun. It's happy. It's colorful and a bit wacky at times. It's not always the easy piece to wear with everything, but it's always something that makes me smile.

When I looked back at the photos of the work I sent into Bead and Button for my application to teach, I saw that the joy was missing from the pieces. I love the designs, but I subtracted one of the main elements that makes me me..... color. Sure, there might be people who like the kit colors that weren't so into them before, BUT my customers are still my customers and I was cheating them and myself by trying to squeeze my square peg butt into the round hole of bead world JUST to get a chance to teach at B&B. I might not be what B&B needs as an instructor, but I'm good at happy and whimsy and I need to just embrace who I am and try to find the places where I DO fit. (and I'm definitely still looking for those places)

Lately I fit in better at art shows. I don't have the financial success in that area yet, but I'm just starting to build a brand and a presence.... but I love what I'm making and at shows, the reaction I get is that my work makes people happy. My art glass, unlike my recent beadwork is just all out there.... colorful and happy. SO, I need to stop trying to be what I'm not in bead world and just say "SCREW IT!" and be(ad) myself.... bringing color and joy back into my work. I will be back in design mode in November and December, so I look forward to seeing what colorful things I can conjure up. In the meantime, I'm re-beading some samples that need a little kick in the color department.

So... what did Mrs. C have to do with it?? I need to just remind myself that there is a customer out there who loves beaded happiness and it's my job to design for her.